Photo: DwayneP · CC BY-SA 3.0Eutaw’s library logs 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Eutaw - James C. Poole Jr. Memorial Library serves 7,422 people in and around Eutaw. Last year it logged 2,520 visits.
What Eutaw’s library is like
Few programs for a library this size
Eutaw - James C. Poole Jr. Memorial Library offered 69 programs last year, 9.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Eutaw - James C. Poole Jr. Memorial Library spends $7 per resident, less than 98% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Eutaw - James C. Poole Jr. Memorial Library serves 7,422 people in and around Eutaw, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Eutaw’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Eutaw is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns, #20 of 156 in Alabama. Eutaw is graded on two of the three inputs. Eutaw’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
55 community nonprofits are registered in Eutaw
19.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
1.4%
1.4% of Eutaw’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.8% in the typical Alabama town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Eutaw’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Eutaw - James C. Poole Jr. Memorial Library serves 7,422 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
A year at Eutaw - James C. Poole Jr. Memorial Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Eutaw - James C. Poole Jr. Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 543 items borrowed against 2,520 visits, so we leave the count out.
69 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Eutaw - James C. Poole, Jr. Memorial Liibrary, 420 Prairie Avenue, Eutaw.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Eutaw - James C. Poole Jr. Memorial Library branch.
New in Eutaw? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Eutaw cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $53K.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 1,728 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Eutaw - James C. Poole Jr. Memorial Library serves 7,422 people in and around Eutaw, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Eutaw.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Eutaw
Does Eutaw have a public library?
Yes. Eutaw - James C. Poole Jr. Memorial Library, 420 Prairie Avenue, serves 7,422 people in and around Eutaw (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Eutaw - James C. Poole Jr. Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Eutaw’s library?
It logged 0.3 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Eutaw’s civic life grade?
B− Eutaw is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on civic life, #20 of 156 in Alabama. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Eutaw.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.